Pepperoni Flurries
by lela12344
Summary: Pepper and Tony. A bet. You can see where this is going.
1. Chapter 2

**A Pepperoni. First Ironman writing i've done so far. Hope ya like it!**

"Tony Stark! Get up here right now!"

Tony Stark, aka the newly known Iron Man paused before continuing work on his damaged suit. He had almost got killed last night. Obadiah Stane, Tony's friend and partner with Stark Industries had created his own version of Tony's Iron Man suit, and had tried to kill him. Fortunately he had failed. Instead of Tony, he was the one who died. Suddenly he heard the click click of stiletto heels on the granite flooring of his stairs.

Without turning around Tony knew he would find a furious Virginia "Pepper" Potts. Pepper was Tony's assistant. She did anything and everything that he need her to do.

"Mr. Stark, do you know what you just did?" she asked unusually calm. Tony's eyes widened dramatically. When Pepper was angry, she screamed and yelled. When Pepper was furious, she was strangely calm. Like a loaded cannon, ready to explode. On him.

Tony turned around quickly in his rolling chair to face her. Pepper's expression was devoid of any emotion.

"Now Potts, don't get your panties in a bunch. I-" he was cut of by her angry ranting.

"Look!" she screeched. In his face was shoved her blackberry. Tony reached out for it, but before he could see anything it was snatched back. She held it up and read it.

"784 messages waiting to be opened. And these are just the important ones! I deleted at least 200 earlier! Why couldn't you just stick to the cards? Wh-"

Tony hand was on her mouth. She glared at him with her big green eyes.

"Now Pep, just let me explain."

"Okay, explain." He removed his hand, and her mouth was set in a straight line.

Tony took a deep breath, searching his mind for an excuse. "I did it because..." He winced.

Pepper's face turned red. "You did it because you felt like you had to do something irresponsible and stupid, so that you could get attention."

Tony was quiet.

Pepper spun on her heel, and headed upstairs without another word. After a few moments of silence, Tony began to work on this suit again.

"Hey, Jarvis would you remind me to get her a sorry gift?" he asked his animated A.I.

_"Yes sir. What do you have in mind?" _he replied in a British accent.

Tony thought for a moment. What should he get Pepper? Most girls, he could just throw a necklace at them and they would be putty in his hands. Not Pepper though. She was so different then those women. She was cute and sweet and her legs...

"I'll have to think about it."

**Upstairs...**

Pepper Potts sat down hard on the plush, leather coach. As she began to sort through the hundreds of emails, her mind wandered. Was she too hard on Tony? In her mind Tony was still a irresponsible child. Millionaire and Playboy of the year, why would he not have a reason to be irresponsible? That was what she was here for. To keep him as responsible as possible. So far she was doing a very poor job of it.

After a couple of hours Pepper was finally done reading all of her emails. She entered kitchen blurry eyed, from looking at the tiny screen for so long. Pepper was pouring herself a cup of black coffee. A board squeaked behind her, and she turned around quickly to see Tony. In his hands was a wrapped gift, and some daisies. He stretched out his arms and handed them to her. She stared at them dumbfounded before looking up at Tony.

"What are these for?"

"It's a sorry present." he mumbled under his breath.

"What is it?" she asked again.

"It's a sorry present." Tony repeated a little bit louder.

"One more time."

"It's a sorry present!" he finally hollered.

"Does this mean your actually saying your sorry?"

"Nope, that what this present is for." Stark continued. "Here, open it."

"Kay." Pepper opened the box to find a simple silver chain necklace. In the middle was a jade that matched the color of her eyes exactly. She looked up at him.

"Thanks."

"Well, since you do all the work and I do all the play," he wiggled his eyes suggestively. "I figured it would be good to get something nice for you."

"Really, Tony. Thanks. I didn't need this. Was the one who exploded.

Tony just rolled his eyes, and motioned for her to turn around.

She did, and handed the necklace back to him. He latched it on her neck, and Pepper turned around. Pepper's green and Tony's brown eyes met, and his softened the way they only could when he was looking at Pepper. She broke the gaze first, looking down, and there was an almost awkward silence.

"I gotta go and finish up my suit then." Tony said walking backwards to the stairs.

"Okay."

After a few moments she yelled down to him. "You know what I would really like as a gift?"

His head popped up around the corner. "What?"

"For you to not do something crazy for one day."

"I"m Tony Stark, baby! I am crazy!" he whooped as he ran back down the stairs.

**So tell me what ya think! Good? Bad? In between? Should I continue or just leave it at a one shot?**


	2. Chapter 3

**The number of reviews was surprising! I didn't think it was good enough to continue. But the reviews say the story must go on. Hope ya like the chapter!**

Pepper entered Tony's house the next day. In her hands were his regular latte, and a blackberry. It was dark, and she couldn't see anything.

"Jarvis lights on." she said absentmindedly. Pepper looked up into the living room and almost screamed at what she saw. There, sitting on the couch, was Tony Stark fully dressed and ready for the meeting he was supposed to go to. Pepper looked at the clock on her phone. It read 8:30 am.

"Tony? What are you doing up so early?" she asked slowly.

"Well, yesterday you said you wanted to see if I could go a day without doing something crazy. So here I am." Tony replied simply.

Pepper almost burst out laughing. There was no way he would be able to do this.

"Yeah that's gonna happen."

"What?"

"You not doing something crazy. " she replied giggling.

Tony pouted, standing up from the couch, and walking over to her.

"I bet I can go through a whole day without doing something crazy."

Pepper looked at him through suspicious, narrowed eyes. She nodded slowly accepting the bet.

If I win," he paused, his index finger tapping on his chin, thinking. "If I win, I get to kiss the famous Pepper Potts."

"What if I win?" she asked coolly.

"You can have whatever you want."

Pepper looked at Tony thinking over what he had just said.

"Okay, if I win, I get to take a vacation for three days to visit my mom in Colorado."

"Wait, you can't do that. That would mean I would be here by myself!" he whimpered.

"You said anything."

"Fine, fine. But only for three days. And that is only if you win." Tony stuck out his hand. Pepper slowly reached out her own, and shook it softly.

"There! It's official!" Tony was began to dance around the room, but then stopped suddenly. Dancing like that was, what Pepper called anyway, crazy. He looked over to where she was standing, and saw the amused expression on her face. Tony slowly sulked back to her side.

"Mr. Stark, here is your latte, and... good luck."

He reached out, and winked at her. This was going to be an interesting day.

**At the meeting...**

Tony sat back in his chair, tempted to lose the bet already. Pepper sat across from him, at attention, staring at the image on the projector screen. He wondered how she did it, that paying attention thing. For him if it wasn't cool, or fun, then it was gone. That's why he had kept Pepper for so long. Because she was interesting. That and without her, he would be a total, and complete wreck. He remembered the day he had hired her like it was yesterday.

_"Mr. Star-" _

_Tony Stark looked up to see an attractive lady staring at him. Not that he wasn't used to it. It was just the way she was frozen almost. Suddenly Mr. Folan, the head of the accounting department, came bursting through the door. This action, sent the woman back into talking mode._

_"Mr. Stark, whatever this woman has told you, it isn't tr-." the man blubbered anxiously before he was interrupted._

_"Oh yeah? Well, just look at these numbers!" she yelled, smacking the papers down in front of him. _

_"And you!" she turned an accusing finger on Mr. Folan, quieting his ranting. "You have no right to be telling me what to do, because you aren't my boss anymore!"_

_"Quiet both of you!" Tony's voice boomed loudly. You could have heard a pin drop in that room._

_"Mr. Folan." he snapped, almost angry sounding. "This lady," Tony looked over at her._

_"Pepper." she responded quickly._

_"Pepper, was correct about, the mistake in my work."_

_"Mr. Stark, sir. I'm ter-terribly sorry about th-the issue." Mr. Folan stuttered, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with a handkerchief._

_"You may go." Tony saw him scamper out of the room quickly. Then he turned his attention to Pepper. She was looking at him with wide eyes, her breath coming in little huffs._

_"So what's your real name Pepper?"_

_"Virginia Potts."_

_"Hmmm, what do would you say to becoming my personal assistant?" Pepper looked speechless. _

_"Okay?"_

_"Perfect, I'll have your things moved to an apartment. Just give the secretary your address." Tony walked out the door, leaving Pepper in the room._

_"Okay?"_

"So Mr. Stark what do you think?"

"Well, I thought it was highly educational and would love to support it."

The woman up at the front of the room, beamed at him, and sat down.

"Okay people, meeting adjourned."

Tony stood up quickly and walked over to Pepper.

"So how am I doing so far?"

"Nothing crazy yet."

"Where to next?"

"It says your scheduled for a dentist appointment."

**Sad to say this, but I'm going on vacation in a couple of days... Maybe not so sad! But sad to say again, that I won't have a computer I'll be able to write on : ( . I'll be gone for 2 and 1/2 weeks so it will be a while before I write again. I will try to get one more chapter in though before I leave. : )**


	3. Chapter 4

**I was bored tonight, so I decided to write another chapter for this. **

Tony sat nervously next to Pepper in the waiting room. The dentist was the worst. Tony didn't like going to the doctor either, but the dentist was just plain, horrible. Why would anyone in their right mind, want to stick their hand in another person's mouth?

"Tony Stark, Dr. Brinkman is ready to see you." The secretary called from her seat.

"Pep, you've gotta come in with me!" Tony begged. Pepper however, just ignored him.

"Come on Pepper, pretty please with sugar on top?" Pepper still ignored him. Tony pouted at her, his bottom lip jutting out. This always seemed to work, Tony noted. Pepper finally sighed.

"Okay Tony. Just this once though." Pepper knew that his weakness was the dentist. She was going to use this to her advantage.

Tony and Pepper stood up from their chairs and entered the room. Tony looked around. The walls were rainbow colored, and the dentist chair was bright yellow. On the desk were...

"Stickers!"

Pepper looked over at Tony with her eyebrows raised. He had frantically ripped several of them off the roll, and had stuck them on his shirt.

"Here Pepper, you can have a Winnie the Pooh one!"

"Tony I do _not _ want a sticker!"

"Yes you do." he smiled, as he stuck it on her chest. She ripped it off quickly. Tony mouth fell open.

"You killed him."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did. Just look at him." Pepper looked down quickly, and saw that half of it was still stuck to her chest.

"Oh, he's not even alive." she muttered blushing tearing the rest of the sticker off. Tony's gaze was firmly focused on where the sticker once was. His eyes slowly moved up and to her face and their eyes met. Their intimate gaze, was intruded on by none other than the dentist.

"Hello Mr. Stark. So I was thinking we c-" Dr. Brinkman cut off as he looked up from his records at the two of them. His eyebrows raised. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No."

"Yes."

"No." Pepper replied firmly glaring over at Tony. The dentist looked between them one more time before approaching him.

"Okay. Mr. Stark please sit down in the chair." Tony hesitated briefly before settling down in it. Pepper stood in the corner, reading a magazine. Dr. Brinkman did everything quickly, finishing with counting his teeth.

"Mr. Stark, you have a cavity. Two in fact." Tony looked up wide eyed. Pepper smirked in her corner.

"When would you like to fill them in?"

Before Tony could say a word, Pepper responded for him.

"Now."

"No. No no no no no. No way is that happening. They have to use needles!"

"Now Tony, there's no reason to get upset." a smiling Pepper calmed. Tony begged with his eyes. She was unmovable.

"Fine." He pouted.

A few minutes later they were in a much larger, more adult room. The walls were a plain, boring white, and the counter was covered with tools only a dentist would know the names of. It also had a very large window on one side of the room.

In the chair sat Tony, wide eyed, and pale. The man could get shot at by terrorists in a suit made with scrap metal without breaking a sweat, but not have a tiny needle poke him in his gum for a few seconds. Pepper giggled quietly at his expression.

"Ready?" Mr. Brinkman asked, syringe in hand. Tony closed his eyes as the needle got closer and closer.

Just as it was about to touch his gum, he yelled loudly.

"I can't do this!" Then he proceeded to rip off the paper around his neck and jump out the glass window on the other side of the room. Before anyone could say anything, he was gone.

"Wow."

Pepper couldn't take it anymore. She burst out laughing, along with Mr. Brinkman.

"I guess Tony lost. This is definitely classified as crazy."

**Don't worry. Even though Tony lost, he WILL get a kiss... eventually. : )**


	4. Chapter 5

**Day One...**

Tony woke up laying in bed, surprisingly enough. From what he remembered last night, was well... come think of it he couldn't remember anything from last night. Tony stretched, frowning. As his thoughts came together, he noticed an odd weight across his chest. Tony glanced down and found a tan arm resting there. He frowned again. Normally the model he had slept with would be out of the house already. Pepper would... oh right. Pepper had left early today. No one was here to make the model, Jenny maybe... no, Jade... possibly... leave. He looked over at the clock. It was already 11:30.

Tony quickly slipped out of bed. Now he had to figure out how to make _her_ leave.

"Um Jenny or Jade, whoever you are, I need you to leave."

She blinked sleepily, slowly opening her eyes.

"Tony?"

"Yes, now leave." Tony replied impatiently.

"But don't you want to have some more fun?" She asked seductively.

"No. Not with you anyway... is it Jenny or Jade?"

"Jade," came the blunt reply. "I'm surprised you even remembered." she continued snarly.

"Yeah, so am I. Go."

"Fine, fine. Just let me get my clothes."

After Jade had collected her clothes and gone, Tony was left, bored. He considered his options. Pepper would be gone for three days. That would mean that he would be home alone for three days... He could work on his suits... or do something... irresponsible.

"Jarvis, where is Miss. Potts right now?" Unknown to his assistant, he had installed a tracking device into her blackberry.

"Pepper is currently at her mother's house in Colorado, sir."

"So she made it safely?"

"Yes, sir."

"And she's far away? So that she can't pop up at me for doing something irresponsible?"

"Her phone is anyway, sir." Tony imagined his AI would be smirking right now if he could.

"I don't remember programming you with mockery."

"Neither do I."

"Mute."

Tony walked into the kitchen, looking for something to eat. The refrigerator was stocked with anything he would want. He eyed the eggs hungrily. Tony took them out quickly, and set them on the counter. Then he grabbed a frying pan. Tony turned on a stove burner, and put the pan on. His high power stove, could go very, very hot. He put it on max. Which was approximately seven hundred and twenty three degrees fahrenheit.

"Sir, you do know that is appro-"

"Yeah Jarvis, I know. The shell shouldn't go in with the egg."

"No sir, I mean the st-"

"Jarvis I can do this on my own. I don't need your help to make a stupid egg!"

"Yes, sir."

**Thirty minutes later...**

Tony was feeling pretty dumb right now. As Pepper called him, the stupid genius, who couldn't tie his own shoes without help. Apparently he couldn't make an egg without help either. He had put three eggs on the pan, after Jarvis had finally shut up, and went to work on his suit, downstairs. Pepper had made them for him before, and he remembered they had cooked for several minutes. With in three minutes however, smoke had begun to pour out of the kitchen. Tony, totally oblivious to the danger, was jamming on his music.

After the time was up, Tony casually walked up to the kitchen. Or what was left. The whole kitchen was on fire.

"Jarvis call the fire department!"

"And that is how Tony Stark has managed to burn half his house down cooking eggs." The news reporter blared from Theresa Pott's house. Pepper sat angrily in a chair by the wall. Tony appeared on screen.

"Now, Pepper I know this looks bad but, everything is okay. See," he motioned over to the burnt house. Pepper saw, what used to be the kitchen, and where he office had been. "everything is fin-"

"How is everything fine you idiot?" she yelled at the television. "You could have gotten killed!"

Tony just continued apologizing on screen. "Come on Pep, I know you'll be angry, but I'll replace everything."

"You couldn't of replaced yourself!" Pepper snarled angrily.

"Virginia, is everything okay?" Theresa asked from the doorway. Around her was the whole family who had heard her out burst.

"Yep, yep, everything is just peachy."

"Hey, isn't that your boss?" her little sister asked.

"Yep, that sure is."

"Should you go back?"

"Nope. I'm letting him handle this himself." Pepper smirked at Tony on screen. "Your in a hell of a position Tony Stark."

**Maybe time for one more chappie tomorrow, but then I'll be leaving for vacation.**


	5. Chapter 6

_**Hey everyone! Sorry for the totally late chapter. I just got back from Wisconsin yesterday. Didn't have any computer reception up there. Not any I could use anyway. Well hope ya like this next installment. Oh yeah... reviews are appreciated.**_

_"Hello this is Pepper Potts, and I know who's on the other line, don't I Tony. You just had to go burn my office down. You're staying by yourself the rest of the time. You are going to do this on your own. I'm not coming home. Bye."_

Tony sighed heavily. He had tried calling Pepper every ten minutes after he had burnt down the place, and every time he got her voicemail. Tony was really starting to miss her. After he had talked to the press, he had headed over to Rhodey's place. This would be where Tony would spend the rest of the week without Pepper. If he decided so anyway. A smile rose to Tony's face.

"Rhodey! I need you to call my pilot!"

Pepper was actually... surprisingly, starting to miss Tony. He had left numerous voice mails on her phone. She looked over at it. Thirty two to be exact.

"Damn it Tony." Pepper muttered under her breath. Of course it would be him to make her feel guilty. But she wouldn't... couldn't go home. Her pride was at stake. Tony had to still think she was angry.

"Virginia, it's time for dinner!" her mother called from the kitchen. Pepper sighed. Her mom had tried to make dinner. Hence the word tried. Better order some pizza for later. She went into the kitchen to see what her mother's attempted cooking dish was. As she approached the door, she could smell the odor of burnt... something...

"Mom, what did you make?" asked Pepper, much too cheerfully.

"Well, I made your favorite! Tuna casserole!"

"Mmmm, yup that sure is my favorite."

Pepper held back a grimace as she looked at the dish of casserole. Yep this was definitely a failed attempt. Her mom's first mistake was obviously the oven. The dish was burnt from top to bottom. Pepper raised an eyebrow. So this is what she had been smelling.

"Here why don't you try some?" her mom asked eagerly.

"Oh mom, I couldn't do something like that! I think we should save some for the others!" Pepper almost screeched.

"Nonsense! I made this just for you." She waved the casserole in front of Pepper's nose, temptingly. All it did though was make Pepper gag. She quickly covered it with a cough. The smell of tuna was overwhelming.

"Virginia, if you don't try some, you might hurt my feelings." Theresa continued, pouting. Her pout was somehow just as effective as Tony's.

"Open wide."

After a few hesitant moments, Pepper finally opened her mouth slowly. Her mother stuck the spoon in there quickly before she changed her mind. Theresa watched excitedly as Pepper chewed. Pepper saw the expression on her mother's face and resisted the urge to puke. This was the worst thing her mom had ever made. Definitely. By a long shot. Pepper heard a crunch and reached into her mouth. An egg shell. Was there even supposed be eggs in tuna casserole? She forced herself to swallow.

"So how was it?" Theresa asked eagerly.

"Um, it-t was very... interesting."

"So it was good?"

"Um it was delicious. The best tuna casserole i've ever had!" Pepper's mother's face lit up.

"Well since you liked it so much, here is a plate now."

"Okay." Pepper said glumly. She really had to learn how to stop being such a people pleaser.

Tony was practically bouncing in his seat. Pepper's parent's house was only a couple hours away. He was riding in his private jet with Rhodey on his way to see her.

"Stewardess, would you get me and Rhodey the usual?" Tony motioned to one sitting on Rhodey's lap. She stood up and walked to the front of the jet.

"Hey where ya goin'?" Rhodey slurred. Tony had finally gotten the man to loosen up a bit. And now he was drunk. Extremely drunk. The stewardess returned quickly with their drinks. Rhodey slammed his quickly.

"How many has that been Iron Man?" Tony looked at the array of glasses scattered across the floor of the plane.

"I'd say about eight you, three me."

"Well, i've gots ta beat youuuuu!"

Tony chose not to respond. He waited a few moments.

"Ah bring him three more. And set up the poles. And the music and disco ball."

"Okay Mr. Stark. Will there be anything else?"

"Oh yeah. Don't give me anymore drinks. I wanna be fairly sober when I see Pepper."

**Next Chapter: Tony arrives at Pepper's**


	6. Chapter 7

Pepper was up in the guest room's bathroom. After her mother's "delicious" tuna casserole, she didn't feel like doing anything except try and avoid the various questions to why she was throwing up. The truth... that tuna casserole was the worst thing she had ever tasted. So now she was leaning over the toilet, puking out everything she had eaten in the last day.

Ding dong!

That was the doorbell. Was her mom expecting anyone? It was a Sunday, and her mom had left for a church meeting after feeding her the casserole. So no probably. Her little sister was home though, but Pepper had no clue where she was.

Ding dong!

There it was again.

"Claire! Will you answer that?"

"I'm not allowed to answer the door when mom isn't home." she yelled from the living room.

Pepper sighed, wiping her mouth before standing up. She slowly trekked down to the living room where the front door was located. Claire was sitting on the couch eating a bag of chips and watching TV. She turned and faced Pepper.

"You gonna answer that?"

Pepper gave her a hard glare before turning to the door. Peeping through the hole, she saw... Rhodey?

"Are you sure this is the right house Iron Man?" he slurringly asked someone to the side of the door. So Rhodey was drunk. Nice. In all the years Pepper had know Rhodey, he had only gotten drunk... twice. That she knew of anyway.

"Yup. This is where he phone is located anyway." the other person replied as he stepped in front of the peep hole. Tony.

Claire watched her sister closely. Although she was only ten years old, she was very observative. What she observed was her sisters face turn from normal to pale to red in the span of three second.

"Tony Stark what are you doing here?" she screeched. Once Claire heard the name, she jumped up from the couch and ran to the door. Yep. There he was. Mr. Tony Stark. Pepper reached for his neck angrily, but he coolly dodged her attack.

"Now Pepper why would you even try something like that?" he asked softly.

"This is my vacation! You can't just ruin it! You can't come here! That was part of the deal!"

"Actually," he unrolled some kind of document. "I can. Look here." Tony said as he pointed to the contract. Pepper leaned snatched it away and read it quickly.

"It only says that you can visit your mom in Colorado. Not that I can't come with you."

Pepper's face grew a shade darker red. "Well... but... I... Tony it's just an accepted idea that you wouldn't come with me!"

"Not by me."

"Or me." Rhodey put in. Under usual circumstances, Rhodey would never say something like this when Pepper was angry. But then again, what was normal about this day. Pepper turned to glare at him.

"And you! Why would you let Tony come! I was counting on you to keep him responsible!" she yelled even louder.

"Well, because Tony loves youuuuu." he teased.

This statement froze Pepper. "What?"

"Tony loves you." Rhodey said a little louder. He grinned at them both, turning from one to another quickly. Then he proceeded to skip around the house yelling "Tony loves Pepper!" over and over again.

"Um, Mr. Stark," Claire asked hesitantly. "Can I have your autograph?"

Tony turned down to look at the little girl.

"Sure kid. What's your name?"

Claire beamed excitedly. "It's Claire. Pepper's told me so much about you. About your big, handsome, brown eyes, and your curly ch-"

Pepper's hand snaked around her mouth. Claire looked up at her sister. She was looking over at Tony, blushing bright red. Then Claire looked over at Tony and giggled. His eyebrows were almost touching his hairline, and he had the silliest expression on his face. From what she saw, she guessed it was surprise.

"Now... um... uh Claire can I have a word with you in the uh... kitchen?

Without waiting for a reply, Pepper dragged Claire into the kitchen.

"Now what did we say about talking about Tony?" she hissed once they got there.

"Nothing. I don't think so anyway." Innocence was always the best way to go. Pepper was so gullible. Once Claire looked up at her with a pout and her big, brown eyes... Yep. Pepper's face was softening quickly. Now would come the explaining about how you shouldn't talk about someone your sister likes when they're there.

"Claire, you just can't go talking about Tony when he's standing right there. Especially those... personal details."

"But, why?"

"Well, uh... just because! Now... uh go up to your room until he's gone."

"But I didn't get my autograph!" Claire whined quietly. Time to use the puppy dog eyes again. Pepper looked down on her. Claire could see her breaking.

"Fine, fine, after that you have to go to your room."

"Okay." Claire brightened quickly. She skipped out in front of her sister, and to Mr. Stark.

"Mr. Stark may I have my autograph now?"

"So polite. And yes you may." He signed the piece of paper that was given to him earlier, quickly. "There you go kid."

"Thanks Mr. Stark." she replied as she skipped happily up to her room. On her way there she passed a Rhodey who was still skipping around the house. She flagged him down.

"You know, we should get them together."

"I don't think we'll have to." he motioned over to the certain grin Tony was giving Pepper.

"Well, if we don't have to do anything then you can come upstairs and play dolls with me!"

"Okay!"

While Claire and Rhodey went upstairs to play dolls, Tony and Pepper were having their own little moment.

"So I've got big, handsome, brown eyes? What was that other thing your sister didn't get to finish?"

"Nothing." Pepper replied a little too quickly.

"Oh, but I think it was." Tony replied moving a bit closer to her.

"Nothing, it was nothing."

"Don't lie." he whispered. Tony had moved closer. They were almost nose to nose. She felt his warm breath on her neck. He looked at her entire outfit. Comfortable blue jeans, and a t-shirt. He looked down at her feet. Barefoot. Perfect.

He leaned down slowly and kissed her lips.


	7. Chapter 8

Wow. Just wow. That was the most amazing kiss Tony had ever been in. That he was still involved in. Although he could taste the slight flavor of... tuna, it was still absolutely amazing. Pepper was amazing. Perhaps sharing a kiss with someone you love makes it much more meaningful, and better. All those other one's he had shared with other women, were fake. Just lust taking over. This was real. This was love.

They both pulled away for a brief moment, looking into each other's eyes. Pepper's expression mirrored his own, one filled with powerful love, but also slight hesitation.

"Weird?"

"No. I don't think it's weird at all." Pepper responded softly.

"I think it's weird."

Claire stood smirking at Pepper and her employer. The ten year old girl had come downstairs to get some soda for Rhodey and her. Their tea party had been well underway when they both had decided they didn't want tea anymore. They wanted to have a sugar party. Of course a sensible young girl like herself would normally disagree. Especially with Pepper's watchful eye. But, with Pepper involved with Mr. Stark at the moment left a small window of opportunity that was closing fast. She had rushed downstairs to load up on all the soda and candy once she had realized that. Claire had stumbled upon the two lovebirds while they were still performing their extremely long kiss. She had first noticed the chemistry between them when she saw Pepper's reaction about Mr. Stark burning the house down. When he had done that she had yelled out about how _he _could have gotten hurt. She hadn't really yelled about the house.

"Er, Claire? I thought you were up in your room." Tony asked hesitantly.

"Yep. I was. But, me and Rhodey got bored with our tea party. We wanna have a sugar party."

"Okay. Have fun." Pepper replied dreamily looking up at Tony.

"Bu-but don't you wanna punish me for even thinking about doing something like that?" Claire stuttered.

"Nope. Just go have fun." she said dazed.

"Um... okay!" Claire squealed. Heck, if this was how it was gonna be when Mr. Stark was around then they should get married as soon as possible she thought as she happily skipped up to her room, candy and soda in her arms.

Tony waited until her heard laughter upstairs.

"Just had to be sure that kid was gone." he motioned quickly. "She's a crazy one."

"Yeah. That's how little sisters are. Get used to it."

"And why would I have to get used to it?" Tony asked smirking. Pepper wouldn't know how to respond to that one.

"Well, er... I thought... um..." She let the sentence trail off. Tony smiled at her.

"Well, er... I though? Come on Pep. You should have a better excuse than that. Maybe like I love Tony, I want to marry him... just like he wants to do to you. By the way would you marry me?" he asked the last part nonchalantly as he watched Pepper's eyes widen.

"Um... but what about... er... YES." she had time to say before Tony wrapped her in another powerful kiss.

"I had a feeling something like this would happen." he winked at her and grinned after they finished their kiss. "That's why I brought a ring... but... I seem to have misplaced it. Sort of. Rhodey has it."

"Wait. Rhodey has it. Up in Claire's room. With Claire. Oh that's bad. That's very bad." Pepper deadpanned. Claire was the kind of kid who knew how to take advantage of others. Especially drunk others. Hell, their peaceful tea party had probably turned into a poker game complete with betting. If Rhodey was still as drunk as he was earlier, then the ring was most likely never going to find it's way to Pepper's finger.

"I mean you can just by another one right? Right!" Pepper yelled at Tony, grabbing his shirt and pulling him forward so they were nose to nose.

"This one was specially made by yours truly." he said gallantly. Tony still didn't get it.

"Tony listen to me!" Pepper hissed at him. "Claire is a little demon. She can trick anyone out of anything. Once she tricked me out of a two week salary. That ring isn't gonna stand a chance in a drunken Rhodey's pocket!"

"Okay, okay! We'll get it back." Tony tried to sooth. "She's just a ten year old girl. How hard can it be?"

"Famous last words." she muttered under her breath as she stomped up the stairs, Tony in tow.

**Ten minutes later...**

Tony looked at his hand suspiciously. That little witch had somehow conned them into playing strip poker. She's ten! How does she even know what strip poker is!

Pepper glanced over at Tony. Her, Tony and Claire were the only ones still in. Rhodey had lost early, showing everyone his cards. Now he was running around the house completely naked. She would have nightmares. When Rhodey took off his underwear... Ack! She knew Tony would have nightmares too.

Claire however, was sitting leaning back in her chair, completely relaxed. They were scrunched in her room. It was all pink. Everything. Even the tiny chairs they were sitting in were pink. And Tony was down to his underwear. And Pepper was down to her bra and underwear. Which Tony thought looked very appealing at the moment. In fact he was fighting his self control, forcing himself to sit in the chair. If Claire wasn't here...

"Fold." Pepper finally gave up. Tony would just have to make sure he won. Or he would be reduced to Rhodey's state. He thought he had a good chance to win though with what he was holding.

Tony laid his cards down slowly, one by one.

"Four of a kind." he stated proudly.

Claire looked over at his hand wide eyed. "Wow that's a really good hand."

Her pout turned into a wicked grin.

"Just not good enough." she continued as she laid her own hand down. "Straight flush!"

Claire began jumping around the room, excitedly. Tony however, was frozen in shock. He lost. That meant...

Tony grimaced as he slowly began sliding off his underwear.

"Wait, wait!" Claire screamed. "No! Pull um' back up! No one wants to see that!"

"Well, I wou-" Claire was over at Pepper's side in an instant.

"Not with me here you wouldn't!"

Pepper nodded her head quickly, pulling Claire's hand away from its resting place on her mouth.

"We _were_ playing strip poker. I should probably follow the rules." Tony said grinning. "Unless..."

"Okay! Take the stupid ring!" Claire shoved them out of her bed room threw the ring at Tony, who caught it easily, and slammed the door shut.

"That was interesting."

"Yes. Yes it was."

Suddenly they heard a loud scream from downstairs. They both rushed to the noise.

There in the doorway was Pepper's mother. Next to her was Rhodey. The totally naked Rhodey.

"Oh hi Mrs. Potts." Rhodey blabbered. "Hey, do you know Tony and Pepper are getting married? Married, married, married!"

"Oh my god!" Theresa cried out as she fainted backwards.

"Maybe we should... go." Tony motioned frantically to the taxi that was sitting in the driveway.

Pepper turned to glare at Tony. "She's my mom! We can't just leave her! Go get Rhodey dressed. I'll try to wake her up."

She turned back to her mother. Tony slowly complied. Dressing Rhodey? That wasn't going to be fun.

A little while later the deed was done.

"Hey Tony! I think she's waking up!" Pepper screamed at Tony from the living room. He was currently in the kitchen, trying to drink away the image of Rhodey naked. When he heard Pepper call, he rose quickly and walked over to her.

"Hi Mrs. Potts. How ya doing?" he asked softly.

"Oh Pepper! I had this horrible nightmare!" Then she realized where she was. "Oh my god! It wasn't a dream! I forbid you to marry this Tony Stark!"

"Mom I'm marrying him with or without you and dad's blessing." Pepper replied flatly.

"But, but..."

Pepper was never the rebellious child. Always doing what she was told. Now she was finally disobeying her mother.

"We're leaving." Pepper continued.

"W-wait Pepper! Please. I'm sorry. It's just your never home! I never get to see you!"

Pepper's gazed softened.

"And I give you my blessing."

"Oh mom! Thank you." she ran over and hugged her mother. Theresa hugged her back and then turned to Tony.

"And you better take good care of my daughter." she commanded dangerously serious.

"Yes ma'am. No worries. I'll take good care of her." Tony reached over and pulled Pepper close.

"Let's go home."

"Can I come too?" Rhodey asked. Tony rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Yes Rhodey. You can come too."

They all walked out slowly, Pepper and Tony hand in hand, and Rhodey stumbling behind them slowly. Theresa stood waving to them.

"Wait mom, don't let them leave! They made me play strip poker!"

"What! Virginia Potts get back here RIGHT NOW!"

They were already gone. On the plane Pepper finally realized something.

"Tony?" she asked sweetly. "How did you know where to find me?"


	8. Chapter 9

**Lots of fluffiness in this chappie. I don't know how it turned out. I don't normally write fluff or anything so... Oh yeah... I don't own Tony, Rhodey, or Pepper. No profit from this what so ever and blah, blah, blah... Review please!**

* * *

_"Tony," she asked sweetly. "Where did you know where to find me?"_

Tony raked his mind for an idea. Any idea.

"Well, er..."

Pepper stood up from where she was sitting next to him. She walked over to the passed-out-drunk Rhodey and tapped him on his head.

"Rhodey, honey, do you know how Tony found me at my mom's house, even when I told Jarvis specifically _not_ to tell him where I lived?"

Rhodey turned his head trying to get more comfortable. "Rubber ducks are yummy..." Pepper managed to make out from Rhodey as he repositioned himself, flopping on his side. She managed to hold in the laugh that was building in her, and looked over at Tony. He was sitting with his legs crossed, looking as though he was about to burst out laughing. She sent him a glare as she regained control. He immediately realized that this apparently wasn't a joking matter as he thought, and uncrossed his legs, sighing.

"Look Pepper I-"

"Oh no no no. I don't want it from you. By now, you'll have probably come up with some elaborate scheme to why you were able to find me." Tony's face fell with a guilty expression on it and she grinned at him, knowing she was right. Then she turned from him and back to Rhodey. Time to try a different approach.

"Rhodey you drunk idiot! Wake up!" Pepper grabbed his arm and hauled him off the seat. Pepper gasped when realized how much he weighed. The dude was way too heavy for her. Whoops... She promptly dropped him onto the ground. Pepper winced as she heard his head hit the floor. "Geez loose some weight would ya?" she muttered quietly, standing over him.

With the banging of his head Rhodey eyes opened. He was awake Pepper noticed eagerly. "Rhodey tell me what the hell you know about finding me!" she barked.

Rhodey's eyes widened dramatically. "Finding you? Why do we have to find you! Are you lost or something?" Pepper hand went to her forehead. Stupid drunk Rhodey.

She made her voice soften. "No, I'm not lost. Now could you please tell me how you and Tony found me?" Rhodey seemed to respond better to this voice.

"Tony? He looooovvvves you!" Pepper dragged Rhodey up from the ground best as she could and grasped him by his collar. Rhodey's face instantly grew puzzled. "Oh you don't wanna hear 'bout that? Or do ya wanna hear 'bout how Tony put a little tracking thingy in your phon-"

Tony's hand clamped over Rhodey's mouth. Too late. Pepper dropped Rhodey on the ground following Tony menacingly as he backed up.

"Anthony Stark," Pepper gave him a strange look. "why would _you_ be tracking _me_?"

Tony sighed heavily. "Pep, I've had that in there since you started working for me. I didn't want you getting hurt. Especially since this whole Iron Man thing. I need you around. And... well... I care about you."

Pepper approached him slowly, smiling softly. "Tony, I do believe that is one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me."

He strode forward and wrapped his arms tenderly around Pepper, kissing her gently. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Seeeeee I told you! Tony looooovvvves Pepper!"

They broke apart and smiled down at Rhodey laying on the ground. He was clutching the back of his head where it had hit the ground, but was smiling back at them in a drunken stupor. Hopefully the alcohol would wear off soon and he would go back to being strict and stern Rhodey, although this was a fun and different side of him. Tony would have to get him drunk more often.

"Rhodey?"

"Yeahhhh?"

"Go to sleep."

"Okay." Rhodey slumped back against the ground unconscious.

"Tony do you think he should go to bed with a head injury?" Pepper asked a bit worried.

"Oh he's fine. I'll get the girls in here to check him out." Tony muttered to her calmly. Then he called out. "Ladies!"

Three finely dress-or barely dressed in Pepper's eyes-women rushed in and began flustering over Tony immediately, ignoring Rhodey.

"Mr. Stark, what do you need?"

"A drink, Mr. Stark?"

"Tony, do you want me to set up the pole."

"Ah ah ladies. I'm an engaged man. Can't be watching any of you parade around anymore."

The three women stared at him with gaping mouths.

"To who? Tell us!" One of them screamed excitedly. Pepper rolled her eyes. She could see the headlines now. TONY STARK ENGAGED TO HIS ASSISTANT PEPPER POTTS. Then the usual would follow. Interviews, question. The whole shi-bang. How long has this relationship been going on? When did you get engaged? Tony already had enough publicity with the whole Iron Man thing. And she was still his assistant. That meant more work for her... She had to stop him!

"Well sh-"

"She's not here right now!" Pepper finished for him loudly. Tony looked at her confused. "Tony could I talk to you in the back for a second?" she asked quickly before he could say anything.

He nodded and she grabbed his hand and quickly dragged him back to a bedroom. Tony's eyebrow rose. She could almost see the wheels in his head turning. Bedroom. Bed. Mini kitchen stocked with all sorts of goodies aka whip cream. He thought she called him in for...

"No Tony!" Pepper almost screeched. Tony smirked at her.

"Fine, fine. What do you want?"

Pepper almost began talking, but heard whispers by the door. She opened it and three model fell in.

Tony gave them a harsh glare, and frowned at them. "Didn't I tell you to see if Rhodey was okay?"

"No, I-I dont-'t think so Mr. Stark." the bravest replied fearfully.

"Well go do it!" he barked. They scurried out of the room quickly.

"Can you make this thing have soundproof walls or something?" Pepper asked.

Tony nodded and walked over to a control panel on the side of the wall. He pressed a button and another layer of walling slid down across the first layer of walls. It looked to be of some extremely thick material, and Pepper knew that they couldn't be heard even if someone was listening.

Once the walls finished moving, Tony walked over to her with concern evident in his eyes. "Pep, what's wrong?"

Pepper sighed and walked over to the bed. She sat down and Tony followed, sitting next to her. "Tony, I just don't think I'm ready for people to know about our engagement yet."

Tony looked at her. "You're not ashamed to be seen with me or something are you?"

Pepper snorted. "Tony, I've been seen with you for the past three years and haven't been ashamed of it. I would never be ashamed to be seen with you. Never have been, never will be."

"Then why?"

"I-I don't know." she said, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm just not ready yet."

Tony nodded accepting this even though he didn't like it. With everything she had done for him, he figured he could do a little something for her.

"Okay we'll wait. Until _you're_ ready."

"Promise?" Pepper asked pleading with her big green eyes.

Tony smiled down at Pepper as he wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, I promise."

* * *

**Tell me how this turned out! Question: Am I good with humor? More, less or the perfect amount of it? You want more fluff? Tell me! I wanna make this as good and entertaining for you as possibly, so please tell me if I could improve on anything or if I have made any mistakes. Thanks! **


	9. Chapter 10

"Pep, what's wrong?" Tony asked, on the drive back to the house. Speaking of the house, Tony had gotten his building crew on the burnt down areas immediately. They were almost finished rebuilding the kitchen and Pepper's office. Thank god for that. Even if Pepper and him were engaged she would have a great time reminding him about all of the important papers that were stored in there, and how she was gonna have a hell of a time replacing them.

"Nothing." Pepper replied shortly, gazing out the window. Tony reached over and turned her head to him.

"Come on."

Pepper sighed. "Nothing, I-It's just those woman on the plane. They hung over you like... drapes? Drapes? Aren't drapes like curtains? What's the differenc-"

Tony's hand was over her mouth. Pepper was getting almost hysterical. "Pepper what's your point? They've always done that. I pushed them away this time. We're engaged and I'm done with that life."

Pepper licked Tony's hand. "Ewwww! Pepper that is so like totally gross!" He looked at her a moment. "Seriously Potts, what's wrong?"

"What if you go back to that life Tony!" she yelled loudly. Tony saw Happy glance back at them. Tony grabbed Pepper's shoulders. She was shaking. Did it really scare her that bad? Did she not trust him enough to take his word?

"Pepper. I'm not going to. Trust me." He said these words slowly and deliberately, letting them sink into her mind.

"Ok-Okay." She mumbled as he pulled her into a tight hug. Pepper looked up at him after a moment. "I'm sorry Tony, it's just that this whole engagement thing has happened me before. The man I fell in love with ran off with another girl. I don't want it happening again."

"It won't." Tony told her simply, reassuringly.

"M'kay."

They sat in each other's arms the rest of the ride home. Tony, however, was curious about the Pepper's previous engagement. When he looked down at her to ask about it, he saw the deep, troubling pain in her eyes, and decided to save the discussion for another time.

Pepper's mood lightened when she saw the house. She had missed it. "Welcome home Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts."

"Not for long Jarvis." Pepper smiled gently. Soon she would be Mrs. Stark. She glanced over at the clock and yawned. 2:00 am already?

"Tony I'm just gonna stay over here tonight, 'kay?"

"Sure Pep, where do you want to sleep?" Tony wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Pepper walked over and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. Then she stood on her toes and whispered in his ear.

"With you of course." Tony's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Pepper giggled and ran off to Tony's room. He followed closely.

* * *

Pepper woke up slowly. She felt an arm around her waist and she was resting her head on another. When she opened her eyes, she got a big eye full of Tony's chest hair. Wow. A sight to behold. Her mind suddenly drifted to why she was in bed with Tony. Did they...? She felt down and realized that she had clothes on. Thank god. Sex before marriage was frowned upon in her family. Not that they would of known about it but still...

Tony gave a massive yawn and opened his eyes, blinking. Last night was a blast. They kept it PG-13 with some intense make out sessions, but it didn't go over that. A little touching here and there, but nothing too serious. No sex. He glanced down at Pepper. Beauty in the form of a wild, red haired bed head snuggled up against him. Her eyes were closed, but Tony suspected that they had been open just a moment before he awoke.

"Morning sunshine." Pepper mumbled quietly and into his chest. "Come on Pep, we got work to do. We're gonna pick out all the decorations today. Jarvis, lights."

"Yes sir." The lights blinked on, followed by the reading of the current weather and when high tide was going to be. Pepper shielded her eyes against the light by digging her face further against his chest. It was a surprise that she wasn't suffocating by now with all of the manly hair covering his chest.

"Jarvis, what time is it?"

"9:00 sir."

Tony yawned and stretched, pulling away the covers and his chest from Pepper's body. She looked up at him, squinting her eyes. "Come back here pillow."

Tony chuckled and settled down next to her again. "Maybe just for a while... Jarvis, lights off."

"But sir-"

"Lights off."

"Yes sir."

A few hours later, both of them were wide awake. "Hmmm. Jarvis what do we have for breakfast?"

"Nothing, considering the recent demolition of your kitchen. However we do have some eggs in your emergency refrigerator."

"Eggs, Tony? In a fridge that you store alcohol in? How did they even get in there?" Pepper raised her eyebrow.

"How do you know about the emergency fridge anyway? And how do you know I store alcohol in there? I could store toothbrushes in there for all you know!" Tony stated looking over at her suspiciously.

"Oh please. I was the one who help you pick it out. A person's gotta wonder where a ginormous fridge disappears to. You also told me about it once when you were drunk. And toothbrushes? In a fridge?" Pepper asked him, smirking.

"Bet you don't know where it is though." Tony ran down the stairs toward the classified location of the emergency fridge. Pepper followed him. Tony went to part of the wall. "Jarvis, yellow green eggs and ham with a slice of blue cheese please."

"Code correct." Jarvis replied with a mechanical voice. Out of the wall popped a touch screen. Tony leaned over it, glancing around the room suspiciously and then pressed several numbers before it slid back into the wall. The wall then opened along with several other doors, protecting the mysterious refrigerator.

"Geez Tony. All that for a stupid fridge?" Tony turned to glare at her.

"A. Stupid. Fridge? You can't just go around talking about it like a regular fridge! This is a very special fridge!"

"Doesn't look special."

"Well it is!"

"Okkkay." Tony walked swiftly toward the fridge. After unlocking various pad locks and more touch screen ones, the fridge was finally ready to open.

"Carefully, carefully now." Tony muttered to himself, slowly opening the refrigerator. Pepper shoved Tony out of the way and looked in the fridge. Her eyes lit up.

"Aha! So I _was _right!" Inside was some of the most expensive beer and vodka known to the world. Some were drank out of and others weren't. "Lovely. A nice little bar. No let me try some of t-"

Tony pushed Pepper out of the way. "NO! No one can have any! I mean no one!" he practically growled at her. Pepper stared at him, dumbstruck. After a moment, Tony burst out laughing. Pepper joined in uneasily. Tony was obviously _very_ protective of this beer.

"Umm, Tony let's just get the eggs. I'm starving."

"Okay Pep." Tony reached in and found a carton of eggs. Pepper also saw him grab a very large bottle of vodka. She just glared at him. He slowly sulked back to the refrigerator, looking like a lost puppy. Tony reached up and put away the vodka.

"Thank you." Pepper said pointedly. He nodded and they were on their way out of the room.

Pepper snatched the eggs from him once they got into the kitchen. "No way. We don't need you burning anything down again."

Tony pouted, but went into the living room and turned on the TV.

"And other news today, Mr. Tony Stark is engaged! To his assistant... Virginia Potts! How exciting! How long has this relationship been going on? When are they getting married?"

Tony quickly snapped off the TV. The house was silent. Tony turned around and found Pepper staring speechless at him. The egg carton dropped on the floor, breaking all of the eggs. Tony imagined that was what her heart sounded like right now. He saw the tears begin to swell in her eyes.

She spoke two words. "You promised."

Then, Virginia 'Pepper' Potts was gone.

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**Thanks for reading. Review make me write faster... (hint hint) :D**


	10. Chapter 11

**Okay I am so so sorry that it took me this long to update. I've just had a lot going on. Hopefully I will be able to update much more regularly than this! **

* * *

After Pepper had dropped the eggs, she had gone straight to the car waiting outside for her. He had promised. She should have known something like this was going to happen. Tony could never keep a promise.

"Happy will you take me home? To my apartment please." she said. Happy looked back at her and nodded.

"Pepper is something wrong?" he asked quietly.

"No. Why would something be wrong?" Pepper asked in a voice Happy had never heard before.

He replied in a careful voice. "Well, you're engaged to Mr. Stark. When people are engaged, they don't normally flee from their fiancee, crying."

When he said this, Pepper finally realized that there were tears streaming down her face. She hadn't seen how much Tony's betrayal had upset her until Happy had pointed it out.

The car reached her apartment and she opened the door before the car stopped moving, grabbing her purse from the other seat. It had started to rain on the car ride home and it was pouring now. Rain mixed with tears as Pepper ran towards her apartment door. By the time she was inside, she was thoroughly soaked, her body dripping with water. Immediately Pepper shut the door, locked it and collapsed on the ground, letting go of her barely controlled emotions.

She laid there crying for a while just thinking. Why would Tony do this? Everything was going so good and then he had to go and ruin it. Pepper got up clumsily and walked toward her bed. When she reached it, she collapsed again, sobbing. Before blacking out from exhaustion, she noticed her left hand. The ring was gone.

* * *

Tony watched dumbfounded as Pepper stormed out the door. What could be mistaken as anger was actually sadness. Tony knew that Pepper walked out that fast so that he wouldn't see her cry. Her and her pride. Tony walked over, intent on cleaning up when he noticed something shimmering in the middle of the broken mass of eggs. He bent down and there it was. Pepper's engagement ring. He had made this with his own two hands. A miniature arc reactor in the middle of a titanium steel ring. It was beautiful and unique. It would have stood for something.

Tony's hand clenched around the ring. It wasn't going to end like this. He wasn't going to let it. He didn't tell the press about the engagement and he _knew_ Pepper hadn't told anyone except for her family...

So who could have said anything? There was Claire, her mom, her dad, and Rhodey of course. But the flight attendants had also heard something about an engagement. If one of them were actually smart enough to catch on then they could have told the press they were together. It was highly unlikely though. Tony had hired them because of their stunning looks, not their brains.

There's still a chance though...

"Jarvis, where is she?" he asked as he went to his couch and sat down heavily.

"At her apartment sir." Jarvis replied, almost sounding sad.

"I need to get her back somehow. Do you have any sorry presents?" Tony asked Jarvis as he turned on the television.

"Do you really think a sorry present is going to work this time?"

Tony narrowed his eyes. Then he closed them. "No. I need to find who did this and make them explain to Pepper that it wasn't me that told the press. I'm starting with the flight attendants. Get my private jet, I can question them while we're on the way to Pepper's parent's house. And call Rhodey up just for the hell of it."

* * *

A few hours later, Tony and Rhodey were boarding Tony's private jet. Rhodey had a killer hangover from the day before. He, of course, hadn't told anyone about the engagement but Tony asked just to be sure. When the flight attendants asked him if he wanted anything to drink he glared at them. They slowly backed away towards Tony.

"Mr. Stark, I think something is wrong with your friend." A tall blonde said seductively. "He doesn't want anything to do with us."

"Yeah," A little brunette pipped up. "he doesn't want anything to drink."

The final flight attendant, a short redhead popped up from behind the brunette and nodded, poutingly.

Tony stared at them for a moment, transfixed. How could anyone be so into themselves to think that everyone wanted them. Oh, right. He used to be like that before the whole Iron Man incident. In fact, he was still like that at times.

"None of you told anyone about an engagement right?" Tony asked out loud to the three women.

They all stared at him, confused. "An engagement?"

"What engagement?" The three of them asked together. Tony couldn't contain his laughter. They were all so clueless! They didn't even know about the engagement yet even though it was all the news was talking about right now!

"Never mind ladies, never mind." he laughed. Then Tony turned serious. "If it wasn't you three, then it could only of been thre-four other people."

Tony turned to Rhodey. "You didn't tell anyone about the you know what, did you?"

Rhodey stared at Tony like he was crazy. "Do you really think I would do that to you man?"

Tony shrugged. "I guess not. Now we know whoever told was from Pepper's family. And I think I might know just who it is."

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**So thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up soon I hope. Reviews are always appreciated. :)**


	11. Chapter 12

Claire pushed away the curtains covering the windows and snickered at the reporters outside the window. Immediately, they all turned in her direction and began snapping pictures. Claire gave them a smirk before making funny faces at them.

Suddenly the front door opened. In walked her father. Claire had to contain her laughter when she saw that his coat was ripped in several places, his glasses were askew, and his normally controlled and proper reddish hair was flying off in different directions.

"Get back you animals! Get back!" he yelled as several reporters tried to barge into her home while simultaneously trying to take pictures of anything they possibly could. In a desperate attempt to close the door, he grabbed the daily newspaper sitting on the mantel and began beating the reporters over the head with it. Angrily, her father finally managed to slam the door uncaringly, possibly smashing fingers in it.

"Who knew a simple engagement would create so much chaos," he grumbled as he tossed the newspaper back onto the mantel and stomped away to find his wife. Claire shrugged and turned back to the window.

"Oh sweetheart, are you alright?" she heard her mother ask her father from the kitchen. Claire rolled her eyes. The woman was forever trying to cook. Maybe she could talk Pepper into hiring them a personal chef once her and Tony Stark were married.

Claire turned away from the window, bored. She approached the couch and sat down, flipping on the television.

Ring! Ring!

"Mom, the phone is ringing!" she yelled while proping her feet up on the coffee table and reaching for the bag of cheetos to her right.

Ring! Ring!

"Mom! The phone!" Claire yelled again. A new episode of Spongebob Squarepants was on and she couldn't be interrupted with the trivial matter of answering the phone.

Ring! Ring!

With a groan and a sigh, Claire stood up and walked over to where the phone was ringing incessantly.

"Hello?" she asked monotonely and almost mechancially. "This is the Potts residence. May I take a message?"

"Claire, can I talk to mom?"

"Is this Pepper?" Claire asked boredly.

"Yeah. Now can I talk to mom?" the voice on the other line said shakily.

Claire sighed before covering the phone with one hand. "Mom! Pepper is on the phone! She wants to talk to you!"

In bussled her mother, wiping her freshly washed hands on her apron.

"Who is it?" her mom asked distractedly.

Claire rolled her eyes. "It's Pepper. I just said that."

Her mom ignored her attitute and grabbed the phone, smiling. "So how are my two newly engaged cuties?"

The voice on the other end of the phone replied and Theresa's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh Pepper... Of course you can come here! We'll have your room set up and everything! Oh, sweetie, don't cry... We can talk about it when you get here. I'll have some more of your favorite tuna casserole made up for you."

Again, Pepper replied back, but was unheard by Claire. "Okay, goodbye honey. Love you. I'll see you soon."

Claire's mother took the phone from her ear and hung it back up, sighing.

"What's wrong with Pepper, mommy?" Claire asked innocently.

Theresa squatted down by her daughter. "Nothing sweetpea, she's just having a little trouble with her friend."

"Oh you mean Tony?"

"Yeah, Tony. They're in an argument right now. I'm sure your sissy will explain as soon as she gets here."

With that, Theresa stood up again, muttering to herself the list of ingredents she would need for tuna casserole and walked back into the kitchen.

Claire shrugged and walked past the television, up the stairs, and into her room where she began counting the pile of money she had in the little treasure chest in her closet.

"Some things are meant to be told," she said as she reached over and turned on her stereo, bobbing her head to the latest hit song.

* * *

A few hours later, Pepper fought her way through the sea of reporters still surrounding her house. With her face matching her hair, she angrily shoved them out of the way as they tried to take pictures of her. Quickly, Pepper knocked on the door and was ushered in by her father as he fought to close the door once again.

For a moment she just looked at her mother. Then the dam broke loose. The tears she had been holding in the entire flight here burst forward and ran down her face.

"Oh Pepper," her mom wrung her hand together worriedly before wrapping her in a soft and comforting hug. "what's wrong sweety?"

"H-he told mom. He promised an.." she trailed of as she began sobbing heavily. Theresa gave her husband a look and he shrugged helplessly. He grabbed Pepper's elbow and gently steered her to the couch where she plopped down gracelessly.

"Shhhh, shhh," Theresa soothed as she rubbed Pepper's back gently. After a while Pepper had calmed down slightly.

"Now why don't you tell mommy and daddy what happened," her mom nudged.

"Tony. He promised he wouldn't tell about our engagement. After Greg, I didn't want to rush into things. I wanted to keep it quiet for a while but then he had to go an-and.." she trailed off as another round of crying took over.

"Oh, sweety, are you sure this isn't a misunderstanding? Why, when your father and I got engage-"

Pepper cut her off. "No mom. I should have known something like this was going to happen."

"But he seemed like such a nice man. Maybe he was a bit.. eccentric, but he seemed to love you a lot. When he looked at you, I saw it in his eyes." Theresa stated honestly.

Her father gave her mother a look. "Well I for one, have never even met this Tony Stark. To hear that you were engaged to him came as quite a shocker."

Pepper looked up at her father. "Don't worry daddy. It was all just a mistake. I should have never agreed to marrying him."

With that, Pepper's face scrunched up and she fled from the room. Her parents watched her leave and sat silently for a few moments before Theresa stood.

"Nice going Bob." Theresa hissed at her husband, slapping his arm while walking by. Bob shrugged helplessly.

"I'm a man. What did you expect? At least I tried!"

Claire peeked around the corner of the hallway with wide eyes and a surprised look on her face as her parents walked back into the kitchen.


End file.
